"Rarely has a jazz or classical composer merged the two worlds as seamlessly in a chamber-music setting as Reid has in "Linear Surroundings," which evokes the radiant spirit of Samuel Barber's "Knoxville, Summer of 1915," though steeped in a jazz-blues sensibility. To hear vocalist Dana Hanchard pooling long, sensuous phrases that were echoed and embellished by seven instrumentalists- each drawing on classical and jazz techniques- was to encounter a nearly ideal performance of a translucent, musically substantive score."

-Henry Reich, Chicago Tribune at Ravinia Jazz Festival

"...In this album, not only do I find the rhythm approaches interesting, but the themes of the songs centering on the joys and sorrows lying within a woman and her thoughts about love and music also moved me. Being a woman myself, I get re-energized by listening to the songs, and they simply make me smile."

"Some vocalists sing, others make dramatic magic that cannot be ignored. Soprano Dana Hanchard...most assuredly falls into the latter group, Hanchard's magic was center stage in Handel's cantata "O Numi Eterni (La Lucrezia)." Performing without extraneous gestures, she sang to her audience with an intensity and directness that defied her listener's to tear their eyes from her. Part of her charisma is a rich soprano voice that seem to have an endless range. Her technique is flawless and her scholarship superb. But a lovely voice, trained voice and years of musicological research do not necessarily make for musical magic. She possesses that elusive ability to communicate, regardless of language, using musical phrase and nuance."

— Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

debut recital at Merkin Hall:

"In France, the border between art songs and music of the streets and bars is easily crossable and often poorly marked. Dana Hanchard's sly, sophisticated recital..embraced both frontiers by investing them with identical values. Ms. Hanchard was made for these songs and they for her. She has wit and taste. She engages in musical conversation: flexible, articulate, true in timbre and in pitch...This was Ms. Hanchard's music. Poulenc's Toreador was clever staging in sound. She relished the tiny sound bites of Satie's 'Ludions' and the gerneral wickedness of Je Cherche un Millionaire."

— The New York Times

as soloist in Handel's Messiah:

"Exhibiting a lustrous and unfailing tone, even in the most daunting sections of passage work, Hanchard brought a smile to every face. She is capable of a wide variety of affects, and her voice always remains beautiful...Hanchard simply made mincemeat out of that great showpiece aria “Rejoice Greatly”.

— San Francisco Chronicle

with the Boston Camerata, Tanglewood:

"Some of the most beautiful work came from...an exquisite and elegant guest soprano, Dana Hanchard..."

— Boston Globe

as soloist in Haydn'sLord Nelson Mass:

"Festival veteran Dana Hanchard was splendid, from the soaring coloratura joy of the opening Gloria to the closing quartets. Possessed of a voice fuller and richer than often heard in classical era stagings, Hanchard retains the flexibility usually found in the smaller instrument. She was a radiant presence in this joyous music, both in her many soaring passages and the luminous bloom of mesa di voce in the EtIncarnatus."

"...Dana Hanchard, in the role of Poppea, filled each formulaic appoggiatura, trill and tremelo with eroticism, coquettishness or delight."

— New York Newsday

"Dana Hanchard made a silkily insinuating Poppea."

— The London Times

"An insidiously understated Poppea, Dana Hanchard was no less effective as she went about her dirty work looking and sounding like a dream."

— New York Magazine

"Dana Hanchard (Poppea) is the most musically stylish singer, and the countertenor David Daniels is an unsettling Nero... their scenes, especially the exquisite duet finale, are among the best in the opera."

— The Wall Street Journal

"What lingers most in the memory is those glorious, ravishing vocal duets, all beautifully performed by Jennifer Lane and Dana Hanchard..."

— TheNew York Times

as Nerone in L'Incoranazione di Poppea:

"Nero was originally written for a castrato. Gardiner, in search of the right register and vocal abilities, cast...American soprano Dana Hanchard as the Emporer. Her performance was superb."

— International Herald Tribune

"...Hanchard gains in assurance, petulantly volatile in her dealings with Seneca and awe inspiring when she condemns Drusilla to a horrible death; but that bat-squeak of sexuality is there too, enthralling with the quivering repetitions of "ahi" in Act 2, scene 5."

— Classic CD

as Asteria inHandel's Tamerlano:

"While the eyes are being ravished, so are the ears...a scintillating performance... singers of passionate virtuosity --notably countertenor David Daniels in the title role and soprano Dana Hanchard as his reluctant Turkish prize...hypnotically human-- opera on a level of taste, imagination and musicality that would do any of the world's most celebrated opera houses proud."

— Time Magazine

as Tigrane in Handel's Radamisto:

" Dana Hanchard sang Tigrane's five arias with impossible to regret Handel's indulgence to Berselli."such exquisitely firm and creamy tone that it was

—Opera

"...the very fluent and spirited Tigrane of Dana Hanchard...is also a delight, with fioratura that is a model of clarity and precision."